The University of Western Ontario Faculty Association (UWOFA) is a union representing about 1,500 faculty members and 50 librarians and archivists at the University of Western Ontario in London.
UWOFA negotiates collective agreements, advises members on employment matters, handles workplace disputes and grievances, and advances the professional interests of faculty members, academic librarians and archivists.
In the broader community, UWOFA representatives meet with provincial and federal politicians to ensure members' voices are heard and reflected in education and labour policy decisions. As well, UWOFA strives to engage members and citizens through awareness campaigns regarding post-secondary education during general membership meetings, community events, contact with journalists, and town hall discussions.
Board Member Spotlight: Amanda Grzyb
Amanda Grzyb is an associate professor of Information and Media Studies and she has been a proud and active UWOFA member since she was hired full time in 2006. She has served on the UWOFA Board of Directors for multiple terms, represents UWOFA as a Canadian Association of University Teachers Trust Fund trustee, and spent years on the UWOFA Communications Committee. Her previous experience as a limited-duties instructor in Arts & Humanities and FIMS from 2002-2006 inspires her to advocate for job security and fair pay for her sessional colleagues.
Dr. Grzyb holds a Ph.D. in English from Duke University, and her research focuses on the comparative study of genocide and state violence (the Holocaust, Rwanda, Sudan, El Salvador), social movements, media and the public interest, and American literature. She is currently the principle investigator on an interdisciplinary, collaborative, SSHRC-funded research project, "Surviving Memory in Postwar El Salvador," which focuses on the experiences of former Salvadoran refugees and massacre survivors, repatriating archival materials and photographs from the civil war era, and supporting the community design of the Sumpul River Massacre Memorial in Las Aradas, Chalatenango. She is the recipient of multiple teaching awards and was appointed FIMS Faculty Scholar for 2018-2020.
